


Promise Me

by Jacksonofabitch



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Happy Ending, M/M, This is really sad, i actually cried writing, its cute, kinda sorry, takes place immediately after season four, there was a lot of fanart so i had to
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-21
Updated: 2017-10-21
Packaged: 2019-01-20 14:20:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12434619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jacksonofabitch/pseuds/Jacksonofabitch
Summary: Lance learns what kind of sacrifice Keith was willing to make. He is not pleased.





	Promise Me

Everything was chaotic and no one had any idea of what was really going on but Lance knew this: the battle was over and Voltron had won. That’s a job well done in his book. _Bring on the parade,_ he thought to himself as Voltron broke apart, heading back to the Castle.

Lotor’s sudden turn had been a big surprise and no one trusted him, even after he’d come in and saved the day. They flew in a tight formation around the ship he’d built from the meteor, warning him that any sudden change of course would result in everyone firing.

The rebel fleet joined them in a larger circle, following as an extra guard against Lotor. Keith’s Galra cruiser settled in next to the red lion and Lance was tempted swerve over to mess with him, but now wasn’t the time.

His comms beeped, showing a private line connecting in. Matt’s face appeared on the screen. “Matt? What’s up?”

“I, uh, had a question about Keith?” He glanced over his shoulder at the other crew members of his ship. Lowering voice, he asked, “About what he was going to do before Lotor showed up?”

Lance frowned, thinking back to what Keith had said about not being able to take down the shield with their weapons. But then how was he planning to--? Unless he was going to… “He wasn’t going to—to _crash_ into it, was he?”

Matt nodded solemnly and Lance’s chest ached. He felt angry and hurt and scared and sad all mixed into one miserable mess. Red surged forward a bit in response to the intense emotions before he corrected himself. “I guess what I wanted to know is if that was normal? Or like he’s just really dedicated? I know a lot of people are willing to die for the cause but like _that…_ And I know he’s really important to you guys and all, so I just wanted to be sure... Lance? You okay?”

The former blue paladin realized how harshly he was scowling and how tight his grip on the controls was and forced himself to relax a little. “Yeah, I’m great.” His voice came out flat and robotic. _I can do better than that._ Lance managed a small smile. “And no, he’s never done something like that before. He can be a little impulsive and intense at times though. I’ll talk to him. Don’t worry.”

The other human smiled, relieved. “Good. I’ll see you back at the castle then. Good work today.”

“Yeah, you too.”

They couldn’t reach the castle soon enough.

 

 

“Keith.” Lance pounded on the half-Galra’s door. He had disappeared almost immediately after everyone had arrived at the Castle and Lotor had been bound and was being interrogated by Kolivan and Allura. “Keith, I know you’re in there! Open up!”

The door slid open after a moment’s pause, revealing an exhausted Keith, still in the Blade of Marmora’s suit. _Did he even take his Earth clothes?_ Lance wondered briefly. “What do you want, Lance?” The annoyance in his tone was reminiscent of when they’d still been trying to become a proper team and the red and blue paladins could barely look at each other without arguing.

“I wanted to talk.”

“Can we do it later? I’m really tired…”

Lance grabbed his arm as he tried to turn away. “Matt told me what you tried to do. What you were going to do.”

Keith froze, stiff and terrified.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Lance continued. “Do you realize what would have happened if you had crashed into that shield? You would have _died,_ Keith. Forever! There’d be no coming back.”

“It was for the mission,” Keith grated out, his voice sounding foreign and clipped like he was repeating something that had been driven into his brain against his will. “The mission is more important than any one life.”

“Fuck the mission!” Lance shouted, making the other flinch. “Fuck the Galra, and the Blade, and the goddamn resistance. Fuck of all that. You were going to die. Do you know what that would do to us? To the team? To me?”

He paused, trying hard to swallow around the lump in his throat. Keith became a dark blur as his eyes filled with tears. “I can’t—I can’t do this without you, Keith,” he forced out. “We can’t. It’s not Voltron without you. I’ve been trying to keep it together, for everyone’s sake, but I can’t. If you had died—” He cut off with a sob, stepping forward to pull Keith into a desperate hug. “Promise. Promise me you won’t do it again.”

“Lance…”

“Please. Even if it’s a lie. Just please promise me.”

Slowly, he felt Keith’s arms rise to wrap around him, returning the hug. “I promise. I won’t—won’t try to do it again.” The stayed there for several long moments, simply holding each other like the universe would split if they let go.

“Were you scared?” Lance asked after a while, his voice small like a child’s.

“Yeah.”

“What did you think about?”

“I—” Keith cut off, thinking of those terrifying moments, of the shield getting closer and closer until it filled his whole vision, and the sweet smile that had appeared in his head, the smile that had followed him across the universe and that he would do anything to have turned towards him. “I thought of you.”

The words came out as a whimper and then tears were flowing out of Keith’s eyes and he clung to Lance tighter, feeling his heat and the beat of his heart. Lance held him as he cried, keeping them upright even though he felt so weak.

“I thought of your stupid smile and how I was never going to see it again, or how I couldn’t say goodbye, or that I—I—” Keith couldn’t catch his breath, couldn’t get his lungs to work.

“Shh, shh, Keith, it’s okay. It’s okay, just breathe,” Lance murmured. He stroked his fingers through Keith’s hair, trying to calm him. “Everything’s okay now. We’re safe. We’re safe. It’s okay.”

“It’s _not.”_ Keith jerked back to stare directly into Lance’s eyes. His face was red and a little swollen, not at all pretty, but Lance knew he couldn’t look much better. “Nothing is okay, Lance. We could die in fucking space at nearly any moment! What is okay about that? I almost died! I am not okay, Lance, and I know you aren’t either.”

“I’m trying.”

“You can’t pretend forever.”

“I don’t have to do it forever.” Lance leaned his forehead against Keith’s. “Just gotta do it long enough.”

Keith let his eyes slide closed and slowly the intense emotions drained away, leaving only exhaustion behind. “Lance, I wanna sleep,” he mumbled, though he lacked any desire to let this boy go.

“Alright.” Lance leaned away, arms sliding off Keith’s body, but Keith didn’t do the same. “Keith.”

“Can you stay?” he asked, soft and vulnerable. “I—I don’t wanna be alone.”

Lance smiled, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “Aww, is the loner getting lonely?” he teased, bringing back some semblance of normality.

“Shut up, loser,” Keith mumbled back.

The lay curled together on Keith’s bed, watching each other in the low light. Lance had removed his armor, leaving him the black body suit underneath while Keith had changed into his clothes from Earth which he had left behind on the Castle when leaving to join the Blade. No more words were said, but a promise was whispered in the way their hands never separated, a vow murmured in the way their breathing synced up as they drifted off to sleep, a bond formed in the way they cradled each other through the night.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not really sure I like how the ending came out, but I was just inspired and decided to write it out and see where it went. Hopefully, you cried because I did and I hate to do things alone. 
> 
> Feel free to message me on IG @jacksonofabitch or on Tumblr @jacksonofab1tch or leave a comment below! I love to hear from you!


End file.
